This invention relates to a hand dryer for sanitarily drying a wet hand after washing.
In order to keep hands sanitary, a process of washing hands and a process of drying hands after washing must sanitarily be conducted. To comply with this, used is a hand dryer by which wet hands after washing can directly be dried, such as that disclosed in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication (Kokai) Hei-2-23918.
As shown in FIG. 30, the prior art hand dryer disclosed in the publication comprises air blowing means consisting of an induction motor 1 and vanes 2 rotated by the motor, and heating means consisting of an electric heater 3. In the air blowing means, the scirocco type vanes 2 are rotated to generate an air flow which is to be blown to a hand drying unit 4. The electric heater 3 heats the air flow which is generated by the air blowing means and is to be blown to the hand drying unit 4, whereby the air flow is converted into a hot blast.
In the thus configured hand dryer, when wet hands are put in front of the hand drying unit 4 from which a hot blast is blown out, the hands are sanitarily dried. In other words, water on the hands exposed to the hot blast is evaporated by the heat so as to be removed from the hands.
In such a conventional hand dryer, since hands are directly exposed to a hot blast, the temperature of the hot blast is set to be a relatively low temperature. Therefore, the drying process requires a prolonged period, and it is cumbersome to use such a hand dryer.
The hand drying unit 4 from which a hot blast is blown out is opened to the exterior. When hands are put to the hand drying unit 4, therefore, the hot blast and the water from the hands are blown toward the user, thereby sometimes giving the user an unpleasant feeling. Furthermore, the water from the hand are splashed on the floor so that the floor is soiled.
The above-mentioned inconvenience may be solved by an improvement such as that a barrier is formed in the hand drying unit 4 or that the hand drying unit 4 is enclosed except one portion. However, such improvements produce other problems in that the barrier causes the hand dryer to become inconvenient to use, and that water is collected in the enclosure owing to the drying process. Moreover, when a drying process is conducted under the state where the user inserts the hands, which are parts of the body, into such a closed space and the user cannot see the hands well, the user is often caused to instinctively feel uneasy, thereby making the hand dryer hard to use.